A Q to the people that make portable systems (PS1, SNES, etc...) Heck-style...

[AB Positive]

I have a friend looking to make his own hardware portable setup, however he has a very specific spec on the screen. I figured this is the best place to ask. He needs:

10" diagonal
1366x768 resolution
susceptible to frontlighting as opposed to backlighting - more like the GBASP than a PSP for example.


He's hoping to find a source where he could get one for less than $1000, one source quoted him $4k which is beyond his prototyping budget. Anyone have any ideas?

[Oldskool]

maybe a netbook screen?

[AB Positive]

I thought that but...

"One of the main points is that it does work with the backlight off"

Netbooks are on the whole backlit, not frontlit. With frontlit (or should I say a properly done frontlit screen) you can use it with the light off in a well lit spot.

[Oldskool]

Yeah, not sure about the whole front light, back light thing.

[Ryaan1234]

Have you thought of getting a broken portable DVD player with a 10" screen? Some of them accept A/V in and if the DVD player portion doesn't work you can still use that. I've found that to be the best affordable choice when it comes to portable video game screens if you intend on getting a larger screen.

EDIT: It is doable on a DVD player that doesn't accept A/V in, I hacked up a 7" portable DVD player and was able to remove the bottom half, leaving wires from it for S-video (chroma and luma) and voltage.

This, for instance would be a suitable screen. If you notice the LCD screen on it looks good; it even has the original protective film. I'd guess that the DVD portion would not work. The only question would be if it accepts A/V input.

EDIT EDIT: Most DVD player screens are backlit, but without much effort you could add a manual cutoff switch so it'd work without backlight.

[jb143]

EDIT EDIT: Most DVD player screens are backlit, but without much effort you could add a manual cutoff switch so it'd work without backlight.

The problem though, is that for a frontlit display, it would need to be transflective. They have a sheet on the back of the screen that reflects the light back through. In this case, if a backlit screen is transflective, then it might work, but otherwise it won't work well frontlit.

[dendawg]

To the OP:

Not to be a smartass, but since your friend wants a Ben Heck style portable, have either of you tried posing this question on the Ben Heck forums? They have a board entirely devoted to screens and the people there seem to be quite knowledgeable about the subject.

[AB Positive]

Well, it's for a prototyping of a new computerized system, not really a portable system, but regardless I might point him there anyway to see what they say. If those folks know screens, that's the place to go regardless.

[jb143]

Do you know what kind of input you need? I could probably get you in touch with some overseas manufacturers. We use several LCD screens in our products at work and I'm involved with requesting samples for prototyping. Your friend might have to act like a company and say you're prototyping them for a product(which sounds like is the case anyways) but they'll usually send samples at request. Not free by any means but still cheaper than buying one somewhere at MSRP.